Bright Light
by Ireth Melwasul
Summary: "You saved me, you looked so bright it hurt…" Kili smiled and moved his right hand over Tauriel's, he leaned further into her touch "But I fear you might be trouble, my dear elven-maid, I've been facing death ever since we met, you can only save me so many times…" Two-Shot. Kiliel.
1. Bright Light

For the record, Oin and Bofur are outside the whole time (well, after Tauriel heals Kili they exit the house)... Doing dwarve-ish things while Fili is inside the house with Tauriel and Kili (thought I should clear this out).

I do not own the characters! I just wrote this because Kiliel wouldn't leave me alone... I doubt they ever will though.

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_The earth beneath him is spinning restlessly, his head feels heavy and fogged… he cannot severe one thought from another and there is this haziness surrounding him, making him feel as if he were fading slowly into stardust. The voice inside his head sounds like his own no more, it is darker now and he wanders like a pilgrim in a universe he no longer recognizes. Everything is growing obscurer with every passing instant, and the numbness about him increases too. Is he finally going to die? Is this the end of his short, yet longer than many others, life? His lifespan could not come closer to the one of the Elves, but he could endure and live more than humans… He'd wanted to do so many things, but now as the lights wane, he accepts his destiny. His fate holds no salvation for him this time._

_He is aware he is in pain, but his mind does not seem to care anymore, the aching produced by the poison now seems a folly circumstance. Then he hears a beautiful voice, followed by a searing pain that could tear him to shreds. Attempting to fight it was useless, he was being held and the voice wouldn't stop chanting. When he opens his eyes he sees light, all the darkness succumbs slowly and he feels bewildered as ever. _

_Tauriel._

_She was far away from him._

_She walks in starlight, in another world._

_She couldn't be there, she was not real._

"Do you think she could have ever loved me?"

_He heard himself speak as he vaguely held onto her hand… the touch smooth and warm, giving him enough strength to keep fighting even as he closed his eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep._

Tauriel stared at the young dwarf resting before her, he still looked ill and weak but his cheeks were turning pink again. He was slowly coming back to the light, to life… to her.

In the depths of her soul she knew things would not remain the same after this, she had made a choice. She had chosen him over Legolas, over Thranduil. She was trying to pull herself together, trying to convince herself this was not as important as it seemed, but as soon as she laid eyes on him again, Tauriel knew he was her kindred spirit. Being the elf she was, Tauriel strongly believed in those things.

The panic that had taken over her when she heard the orc explaining how the Morgul poisoned shaft had hit him had been the first sign that something queer was going on.

The utter need to save him and be with him overpassed her normal standards. That's how it all had started, after all, her saving him.

"My brother, is he going to be fine?" she had once eavesdropped on their conversations, had wanted to know his name. Thanks to that she now knew many of the other dwarf's names, and if her sharp memory didn't betray her, this one was Fili. The concerned look in his gentle eyes resembled the one Tauriel swore she had possessed at some point in that night. So she dedicated him a small smile and nodded.

"I certainly hope so" she answered with simplicity and honesty. Tauriel walked away from the table and passed through the door, going outside. The air inside the house felt heavy, and the remaining disaster of their fight could only remind her of the mess inside her mind and the turmoil within her heart.

Lake-town appeared macabrely peaceful, and even as she roamed her eyes along the city, she could see no trace of orcs or Legolas.

"What are you really doing here?" Fili's voice came from behind her, stopping her mind from unweaving any further.

Tauriel turned around slowly and looked at the dwarf with curiosity.

"I do not wish to disturb you with my presence, I shall leave if I am unwanted" her voice was flat, as she spoke she gave the dwarf a stern look and approached him so wouldn't have to rise her voice any further.

Her behavior was the one of a fool, but she indeed knew the meaning behind Fili's words and she couldn't afford to have that conversation just there and then. Tauriel ignored the dwarf standing in the doorway and placed her eyes straight on the inside of the house, where her bow and other weapons rested.

She had all the intention to leave, but she needed to get inside and grab them. There was not a possibility she'd leave unarmed. She sighed, avoiding the upcoming chat was almost impossible.

"Forgive me, that was not what I meant," Fili stated "what I'm trying to say is that I do not really believe you came here just by chance, chasing the orcs…" he left the sentence lingering in the air for a few seconds.

"What other reason would I have to be here other than that one?" truth. The orcs were a reason, but they were not the most important one.

"Kili," he bluntly said "you either saw him getting hit by the arrow or you heard of it later, I am sure. But do you really care for him, or did you act just based on your curiosity?"

Tauriel felt offended.

"Curiosity? I've got centuries of lore stored in my head, thousands of lessons lie within my heart. If I had just wished to keep learning about fire moons and runes, I would've gone to the next dwarf who crossed my path. Do not dare to question my intentions, for I really care about him"

She had been shouting without even noticing it. Tauriel regained her composure and walked back inside without even touching Fili.

"I'll be here when he wakes up" Tauriel grabbed a chair and placed it next to the table; she sat then and rested her elbows on the wooden surface. She felt hypnotized by the way his chest moved up and down as he breathed.

Tauriel looked at his face and shivered whenever she saw his eyelids fluttering, Kili was probably having a bad dream and she wished she could fight his monsters away… but she couldn't, so she just stretched her arm and held his hand. His face relaxed immediately.

Fili might be standing right behind her, but she couldn't come to care about whatever he may think, the only one she ought to prove something was herself and Kili. Tauriel leaned forward and rested her head on his lower stomach, listening to the echoes of his heartbeat, the simple sound soothed her and she closed her eyes. She dreamt of starlight and fire moons…

"Tauriel?" a voice called out for her and she snapped her eyes open, lifting her head off him fearing she might have troubled his breathing.

Kili's gentle brown eyes were open and focused on her. Tauriel looked about her and realized it was only the two of them; where could his brother be? She was still holding his hand and fixed her eyes on him again when she felt him squeezing her hand.

"You're awake… you're awake" she uttered as she moved her hands to cup his face between them.

"You saved me, you looked so bright it hurt…" Kili smiled and moved his right hand over Tauriel's, he leaned further into her touch "But I fear you might be trouble, my dear elven-maid, I've been facing death ever since we met, you can only save me so many times…"

Tauriel laughed silently.

"Dwarves and elves make a queer combination, but _we_ function just fine. I'll be here to save you whenever it is necessary"

Kili never stopped smiling at her. He then tried to sit up, and accomplished his objective after struggling a little. Now his face was in level with Tauriel's and she looked at him with tenderness.

"Would you answer my question now?" he asked.

_Yes, yes I could love you._

_I would love you._

_I love you already._

The thought itself scared her, so Tauriel just leaned into him and pressed her lips to his. Kili's lips were dry and chapped, but they felt good against hers. Tauriel felt his hand in the back of her head, urging her towards him and she just let go of all control, she let him guide her. Their mouths melded together, moving in perfect synchronicity and she couldn't help but sighing into the kiss, she could taste the remaining darkness in Kili, and was glad to finally do something for him and fight it off with her loving kisses. She was desperate for more, but she knew that was neither the time nor the place.

Kili seemed to share her thoughts and he slowly pulled away. Tauriel didn't know when she had placed her hands on his shoulders but she didn't move them when they parted, they just kept still, looking into each other's eyes for what felt like ages.

Seconds after that Bofur, Oin and Fili appeared in the doorway. Kili looked at their scared faces and Tauriel turned around to find them struggling with words, until Bofur finally managed to say something.

"Smaug is coming"


	2. Where We Belong

Hello beautiful people! I actually cannot believe you liked Bright Light so much, I'm still having a hard time believing it! So thank you very, very much!

Uhm, this part can be read as a new drabble or a continuation of Bright Light, I tried my best to make it work for both purposes (and since some of you are not following me, but following the story, posting it as a second chapter will notify you and you'll be able to read it (if you wish)).

Also, this is A MASSIVE AU. I mean it, it's the AU of the AU's (or so it seemed). This part goes mostly from Kili's POV and I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE IT. I mean, disappointing you is the LAST thing I want. So hopefully you won't flame at me :)

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_Tauriel had been wandering since the victory of the Dwarves, pacing back and forth in Rhovanion. Once Smaug had been slayed and the orcs defeated in the Battle of the Five Armies, she became an outcast. King Thranduil of Mirkwood didn't take her back; he accused her of betrayal and disobedience –there was no way a king like him would welcome back someone as restless and hotheaded as her. _

_Tauriel didn't like wandering, so every once in a while she thought about going to Lothlórien or Rivendell, the Elves there would accept her… but all that time there had been someone holding her back. If she ever decided to make such a journey, the mighty kingdom of Erebor would be miles away from her. This particular dwarf would be too… but she couldn't keep going like that any longer, no._

_So she rode towards Erebor on her horse, fully knowing that once she saw him her decision would give a complete turnaround, and this didn't bother her as much as it ought to._

It had been a year since their triumph.

There was not a day Kili didn't fantasize about having been a better warrior, a better archer. If he were, Thorin might still be with them. The memory didn't pain him as much as it used to, not lately, he had learned not to chase the ghosts of his past and he had convinced himself Thorin was enjoying his new adventure, in the great halls of his ancestors. He had earned it, after all. And all Kili wished was to someday be worthy of joining them. So he tried to live his life in the best way he could.

His brother Fili was now King Under the Mountain, and they were slowly bringing back Erebor's glory, the halls and walls were now restored. The mighty kingdom was being reborn. Kili knew that was his place, beside his brother and among their people. But somehow, he couldn't help but feeling he belonged somewhere else. Every single night of that one year he had found sleeping a very difficult task to complete…

At first he had blamed his lack of sleep on the works they were doing, dwarves never rested, carrying gold from hall to hall, hammering there and there…

Then he found the real issue. Yes, those sounds were loud, but his thoughts were louder. His mind and heart always found their way back to Tauriel and the simple memory of her deprived him of any sort of sleep. For Durin's beard! He couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen her! She had fought with them, she had been _next to him_, shooting arrows at the disgusting orcs… and then she was gone. Tauriel didn't even say goodbye.

Had she gone back to Mirkwood? Back to that dead-serious and empty elf? Kili didn't know. But he often wondered about that, tonight for example. He was lying wide awake in his bed, looking at the high ceiling and listening to the echoes that ran through the underground palace. His situation seemed hopeless, it was going to be another long and sleepless night; but just as the thought crossed his mind, in came Fili.

"Brother, what brings you here at this hour?" Kili sat up and turned around, landing his feet on the cold floor made of stone. He soon reached for his boots and put them back on as his brother approached him with a bewildered and yet funny look in his eyes.

"There's something you need to see, or better said, _someone_" Fili didn't sound particularly pleased but he didn't sound annoyed either. Kili could only give him a weary look as he stood up; soon Fili exited his room and motioned him to follow close behind. Fili guided him to the main entrance and through the open doors, it was a hot summer night and the sky was clear and shining with many stars. Kili's eyes didn't go down for a long while; they wouldn't have if Fili hadn't elbowed him on the ribs.

"Look down, near the river" Fili said.

Doing as he was ordered, Kili directed his eyes to the river and seconds later he saw it. There was a rider approaching, and not just any kind of rider. The light the stars provided were enough to distinguish who it was from the distance… Her fiery hair couldn't be mistaken.

"What-what is she…?" Kili looked to his brother, excited and hopeless at the same time "Am I dreaming?" he asked.

A year ago in Lake-town he thought he'd been dreaming and circumstances turned out to be very real, this time he felt the same haziness and Kili needed to be sure. Stop himself from saying folly things.

Tauriel had never answered his question. The only one he had ever really needed an answer to. She just kissed him. Kili had been torn between two options, number one: kissing him was her way of telling him she loved him, because uttering the words might be just too odd. Or, number two: kissing him was the manner she had chosen to tell him that kisses was all he was ever going to get from her.

Much to his dismay, Kili found both impossibly possible. And after her sudden departure, he inclined more for the second option. This time he was going to be careful.

"I'm afraid you're not. And despite I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad one, I suggest you go readying yourself… She's seconds away" with that Fili left him, all alone in the middle of the night with a new and full view of Tauriel before him.

As he'd expected, the elf didn't stand on ceremonies. Tauriel just got off her horse and walked toward him. Kili didn't need to force his neck up to talk to her, just a simple lift of his eyes and he was looking at her face easily.

"I'm going away, far from Erebor and Mirkwood," she said. Kili sighed… how much he'd missed the sound of her voice he didn't notice until that instant "I just came here to say goodbye" Tauriel hadn't been looking at him, but at this last sentence she lowered her face and fixed her eyes on his.

Kili desperately tried to hold it back… He indeed tried. But the hurt and resentment won and the answer to her farewell escaped his lips swiftly.

"Why say goodbye now? I haven't heard of you in for a really long time, you've been gone for so many days I hardly understand why you're doing this" Tauriel looked taken aback.

"I know… I have been wandering, near but never close enough. This time though, I am leaving for good and I do not intend to come back"

Her words fell heavy on his heart and Kili felt the ground shrinking beneath his feet.

"Thranduil exiled you?" was all he could say, she nodded in agreement.

"I exiled myself the moment I went after you"

Her armor was down, he could see the loneliness in her eyes and Kili almost regretted being harsh with her. _Almost_. Yet he was not going to shoot daggers at the elven-maid again, he took a deep breath and smiled gently at her.

"Tauriel, we may not have shared many moments together, but I know you well enough," Kili started" you came here so I could ask you to stay"

Maybe she was tired, maybe she had felt the ground shrinking too, he didn't know, but Tauriel fell to her knees and stayed still, looking down at her lap where her hands were curled up into fists. Kili saw her back moving up and down, she was breathing hard and fast. The thought of finding her amazingly small before him shocked him, she looked so fragile… for the first time Tauriel looked fragile. It was not necessary, but against his better judgment Kili knelt before her and tipped her chin up.

Her eyes were glimmering with something he didn't dare to call tears; she wouldn't have liked him to see her about to cry.

"Would you?" she whispered.

Short after she questioned him, Tauriel stood up. Kili stayed knelt a few more instants before following her lead, and he stayed quiet for a few more before answering her question .

"No, I wouldn't" for the second time that night he had taken her by surprise. Her porcelain skin went impossibly pale and she tried hard to hold her ground; the dwarf wanted many a thing from her, but breaking her was not one of them.

"But I would ask you to let me go with you" he couldn't be more honest even if he tried.

The look on Tauriel's face changed completely. Third time in a row, Kili smiled and would have even patted himself on the back, for he was really proud of being able to take her breath away.

"Beg your pardon?" she quirked her eyebrows and stared at him, completely flummoxed and insecure.

"You could always stay here in Erebor, but us dwarves pretty much love living underground. Our magnificent palace barely has windows; you wouldn't be able to gaze at the stars from your room… Just at the jewels among the walls and diamonds and rubies cannot compare to the night sky, pierced with hundreds of stars that form constellations. And despite my suspicion that Fili actually likes you and would welcome you, having an elf living with dwarves would be just as queer and uncomfortable as it was being a prisoner in Mirkwood," Kili walked to her and took her hands in his then "so let me go with you"

Tauriel shook her hands away from his and began to pace from side to side in front of him, giving him a flustered look every once in a while.

"You cannot leave your brother, abandoning this place... Have you gone mad? You are a prince, from Durin's line. Giving up your entire life just because of a Silvan Elf... It's ridiculous" Tauriel babbled.

"It would be ridiculous, indeed, if Erebor weren't on its pillars again. Or if my brother were having trouble with something," Kili sighed "but none of those things are happening. Erebor is powerful and my brother is wise. I'm not giving up my entire life, I'm not denying my place as a prince either, no. But I feel suffocated, a prisoner in my own house. I don't wish to live like that, if that can be called living at all. This might be the place where I'm ought to be, but I _want_ to be with you, the Silvan Elf"

Tauriel sighed and stopped ambulating.

"You were right when you said I came here so you could ask me to stay, but I was not expecting this… Kili, where would we go? A dwarf and an elf hardly belong somewhere together" she said.

"Once upon a time you said we functioned just fine, I believe that. Tauriel, I won't beg you any further, but just let me prove it to you. Let me prove you you're right"

Kili could see her pondering the pros and cons, but eventually she just smiled brightly at him and ran to shorten the distance that separated them. The gap was gone within seconds and she was in his arms just as fast. He held her close to him and Tauriel laughed as she nestled her head in the crook of his neck, arching her back in an angle Kili swore seemed uncomfortable for her.

"I love you," Tauriel whispered in his ear "so very much…"

This time Kili kissed her, shedding all his love and longing on her lips. This was the moment he'd been waiting for so long, and now she was finally with him again. Tauriel belong in his arms, with her chest pressed tightly against his and her lips kissing him back with sweet eagerness. Her words had surprised him and the warmth he felt could only compare to the one he felt when he'd seen her surrounded by that halo, all those nights ago in Lake-town.

Somewhere between the kiss he told her he loved her too. He'd never said it before, and even though she probably knew it already, Kili was not taking any chances of her doubting him.

Fili would understand. Kili knew they would miss each other terribly but Fili had the other dwarves (Nori, Ori, Oin, Bifur, Balin...) to counsel him and guide him if he ever needed counsel; Fili would never be alone. Deep down and despite Tauriel's intentions of never coming back, Kili knew they'd be someday… After seeing the world and sailing through the unknown waters in the West, they would come back. Maybe then things would be better, maybe not, but their future looked bright.


End file.
